Crown Feature: Meet Kotrell – The Man With The Soulful Sounds

On April 7th, 2018, a wonderfully talented artist would be headlining his first show under the new moniker, Kotrell, at the NAMACOS Studio in Bowen University. I had a little talk with the rising star about everything from his personal life, to the music and then his show, Kotrell Live In Concert.

Tell us a bit about yourself, outside the music.

My name is Cotterell Atonopriya. I’m an Indigene of Rivers state. In a family of four, I’m #3. I’m a Christian. Apart from Music, I think it’s safe to say I’m a movies person. Not too much of a sportsman, I play a bit of soccer, Volleyball, badminton, and table tennis though. My personal motto is; “Live, Love, Learn”.

What inspired you to get into music?

Music is something I have passion for, and I truly believe it’s part of God’s plan for me. when I see how much impact it makes in people’s lives I’m motivated to keep pushing it further.

You are in a particular genre that might not be very popular, what have been the challenges so far? How have you dealt with them?

I think the major challenge most people trying to do something new or unconventional in this area face is achieving commercial success. I chose to focus on making good music and taking one day at a time. Building my fan base bit by bit, I believe eventually we’ll get there.

Who would you say you are inspired by, in and out of the music?

I’m truly inspired by my mentor, Fuuberry, Doron Clinton my phenomenal producer who kick started the idea for my fresh start as “Kotrell”. There’s a long list of artistes who have inspired me in different ways, most notably are Ed Sheeran, Travis Greene, Johny Drille, Tye Tribett, John Bellion.

First of all, I wanted to be an entirely distinct entity. “ATP” as I was formerly referred to as, had different meanings in sports as well as science. I just wanted to be the only “Me”, so we decided to go with my surname “Cotterell” respelt as “Kotrell” because it’s not just a rare name, but a very unique one. I also wanted a uniform identity for myself on and off stage. I didn’t want to be called different names on and off stage. There are some other reasons, but these are the major ones.

How much work would you say has been put into your music and this show? How does this reflect in your life?

Generally, my music is the aspect of my life I’ve invested the most in, in terms of money, time, and other resources. Alot of work has been put into this. Through my musical journey, I’ve had a more tasking project. However, it’s really not been a solo effort. I’ve got an amazing team headed by the CEO of Omologo entertainment, Tolu Ujiogba. The process of preparing for this show has been an eventful learning process for me as a person and as an artiste.